Peru: Nationwide protests and strikes - full text
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Many of Peru’s major cities and towns, including Lima (the capital), were affected by a series of protests and mass strikes on July 5-17, 2007. Several protests ended in violent clashes between police officers and the protesters, resulting in the death of at least three people (including a 13-year-old girl in the southern region of Apurímac), whilst several others suffered injuries and at least 300 were arrested. The mobilisation began on July 5, in a protest by teachers against new legislation requiring them to pass regular competency tests or face dismissal. A range of other social groups (including farm workers, miners, construction workers, and coca farmers) later began protesting against the government, including demands for the enforcement of Peru’s labour laws and rejection of a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the USA. The unrest occurred just weeks before the first anniversary of President Alan García Pérez’s second term in office and was widely regarded as a demonstration of widespread discontent with his government.
Immediate Context
President García, who also ruled Peru in 1985-90, won a second term in June 2006 after defeating Lt-Col (retd) Ollanta Humala Tasso in the second round of voting in presidential elections. When he was inaugurated in July 2006, many observers described his latest electoral success as an historical "political comeback", a reference to his return to power some 16 years after his first term in office ended amid economic crisis, widespread corruption, and rising guerrilla violence.
During his inauguration speech to Congress (the bicameral legislature) on July 28, 2006, García pledged to fight poverty and outlined a plan to invest some US$1.6 billion in poor rural areas in the sectors of health, education, and public infrastructure. In November 2006 García announced the details of 11 social programmes designed to fight poverty, including plans to improve sanitation, electricity provision, education, infrastructure, and road construction.
However, Peru’s stark social and economic divisions remained a source of agitation for García’s opponents. Almost 50 per cent Peruvians survived on less than US$1 per day. Poverty existed in Peru despite what the IMF in May 2007 described as "broad-based and high" economic growth, "low inflation, and rising employment", adding credibility to a notion held by García’s critics that his economic policies were failing to tackle the uneven distribution of wealth.
Although the July 2007 protests were the most significant of García’s second term, the government had faced frequent criticism and a series of protests since taking office in July 2006. In December 2006 García declared a 30-day state of emergency in the city of Abancay, the capital of Abancay province, after 85 people were injured during violent clashes between the police and opponents of local governor Rosa Suarez Aliaga. In March 2007 at least 10 people were injured during violent clashes with the police while protesting against the government's coca eradication policies, whilst human rights and environmental organisation in February 2007 condemned a government campaign to sell oil and gas concessions in large swathes of land in the Peruvian Amazon jungle.
Reaction and Outlook
The government responded to the July 2007 protests by deploying more than 15,000 police officers around the country and authorising the armed forces to intervene if protesters attempted to gain control of public buildings.
In a report published on July 12 by the Inter Press Service news agency, Víctor Gorriti Candela, the deputy chief of the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP), said that the protesters were "desperate because the economy [was] growing, but nothing in their lives [had] improved", adding that their demands would continue until wealth was "better distributed". Ernesto Velit, a political analyst, believed that Peru had enjoyed significant economic growth but had failed to provide "social development", according to a report published on July 17 by The Guardian newspaper.
Discontent with García’s policies was further entrenched by his reactions to the mobilisation against his government. On July 6 he reportedly referred to the protesters as "radical, suicidal and crazy", adding that the teachers’ strikes were illegal because education was "an essential public requirement". According to the result of a public opinion poll, carried out by the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and published on July 15 by the Angus Reid Global Monitor, García had lost a "significant amount of public support" since the protests began, with only 35 per cent of respondents approving of his performance as the president, a reduction of 16 points since June.
Historical Context
During his first presidential election campaign in 1985 García pledged to deliver "a response to historic poverty" in Peru, but by the time he left office in 1990 his first term was being described by many observers as an "unmitigated disaster".His first term was initially characterised by nationalist policies, including the limited repayment of Peru’s foreign debts. Despite the implementation of measures which contributed to economic growth of 9 per cent in 1985 and 7 per cent in 1986, the economy faltered in 1987 after García announced the nationalisation of Peruvian banks. García later suspended all foreign debt repayments as the economy declined by more than 20 per cent and inflation spiked to 1,722 per cent in 1988, 2,600 per cent in 1989, and 7,650 per cent in 1990. García’s first term was also marked by widespread corruption and coincided with an upsurge in the violent insurgency being waged in Peru by the Maoist guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).
